Andreas Frischknecht

Andreas Frischknecht has been with the Firm since its founding in May 2009. Andy has nearly 14 years of dispute resolution experience and has litigated a broad range of cases in the state and federal courts in New York and elsewhere, in trial courts and on appeal. He regularly represents corporate clients in transnational cases, including complex commercial contract and financial disputes, as well as sovereign clients in disputes arising under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Additionally, Andy has represented clients in international arbitrations under the ICC, SIAC and NAI Rules, and in subsequent award enforcement proceedings. Andy’s “impressive” ability to become “expert in a specific area that is the focus of the arbitration” has been recognized by Legal 500 USA.

Andy is a member of the American and International Bar Associations and the Federal Bar Council. Before joining Chaffetz Lindsey, Andy was with Clifford Chance for over three years and, prior to that, with Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP from 2002 to 2006. He is a bilingual English and German speaker and a dual Swiss-American citizen and regularly represents German-speaking clients in U.S. proceedings.

Representative Matters

Represent a foreign central bank in the Southern District of New York, the Second Circuit and the United States Supreme Court in an action by judgment creditors to enforce billions of dollars in outstanding judgments against nearly $2 billion in assets restrained and later blocked in a New York bank account. See Bank Markazi v. Peterson, — S.Ct. —-, No. 14-770, 2016 WL 1574580 (U.S. Apr. 20, 2016).

Represent a European sovereign, both in trial court and on appeal, in litigation over ownership of significant artwork. Following evidentiary hearing, obtained dismissal of all claims asserted against the client for lack of jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. See Schoeps v. Free State of Bavaria, 27 F. Supp. 3d 540 (S.D.N.Y. 2014), aff’d, 611 Fed.Appx. 32 (2d Cir. 2015), cert. denied, 136 S. Ct. 895 (2016).

Represent a Swiss financial institution in a series of bankruptcy court actions in the Southern District of New York brought by the Madoff trustee and the liquidator of three of the largest Madoff feeder funds.

Represent the owners of a major power plant project in Central America in an ICC arbitration seated in Singapore arising out of construction and project finance disputes.

Represent a Turkish holding company in federal court proceedings concerning the enforcement of a nearly $1 billion foreign arbitral award, as well as in a related arbitration in Europe under the ICC Rules.

Represent a former director in litigation in the Southern District of New York brought by entities holding assets of expropriated foreign oil and gas company. Obtained dismissal of all claims for lack of personal jurisdiction and failure to state a claim. See Yukos Capital S.A.R.L. v. Feldman, No. 15-cv-4964(LAK), 2016 WL 209491 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 13, 2016).

Represent a South Pacific sovereign in federal court litigation in the District of Columbia arising from the alleged breach of an investment agreement. Obtained dismissal following favorable settlement.

Represent a Swiss pharmaceutical company in a Netherlands Arbitration Institute proceeding against one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies concerning alleged breaches of a licensing and development agreement.

Represent a Swiss-based life insurer in a putative securities class action in Florida federal court. Obtained dismissal following favorable settlement.

Represent an international energy company in an arbitration under the Singapore International Arbitration Centre rules concerning fraud and breaches of warranties arising out of a corporate acquisition.

Third-Party Funding Update: New York Court Narrowly Applies Champerty Law While Florida Court Holds Investors Can be Liable for Costs (Newsletter of the IBA Arbitration Committee, March 2010, with James Hosking).

Recent Speaking Engagements

Personal Jurisdiction: How Can Foreign Manufacturers Minimize Exposure to Litigation in the United States and Europe?, Successfully Navigating Hazardous Waters: The Third Conference on Transatlantic Deals and Disputes, ABA Section of International Law / International Section of the German Bar Association Conference (Frankfurt, Germany, June 2013).

Like Moths to the Light: Is New York on Track to Become the Judgment Enforcement Capital of the World?, Long Arms and Sharp Elbows: Recent Developments in International Commercial Dispute Resolution, 4 New Square Chambers (London, September 2012).

Education

New York University Law School, LL.M., 2002.

University of Bern, Faculty of Law, LL.B., magna cum laude, 1998.

Admissions

Admitted in New York, 2003.

Admitted in Bern, Switzerland, 2001 (currently inactive).

United States District Courts for the Southern, Eastern and Northern Districts of New York and the District of Columbia.

June 2017 – Chaffetz Lindsey partner Andy Frischknecht is featured as an expert on the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”) in the June/July 2017 issue of Practical Law: The Journal, published by Thomson Reuters. In a wide-ranging Q&A, Andy discusses…

April 2017 – The fourth volume of Chaffetz Lindsey’s New York Commercial Litigation Report is now available. The report contains recent case summaries to keep you informed on new developments, and reminded of old ones. The cases in this issue…

November 2016 – The third volume of Chaffetz Lindsey’s New York Commercial Litigation Report is now available. The report contains recent case summaries to keep you informed on new developments, and reminded of old ones. The cases in this issue…

July 2016 – The second volume of Chaffetz Lindsey’s New York Commercial Litigation Report is now available. The report contains recent case summaries to keep you informed on new developments, and reminded of old ones. The cases in this issue…

June 2016 – A Chaffetz Lindsey team consisting of partner Andy Frischknecht and associate Jungmin Cho has successfully obtained a discovery order in the Southern District of Florida on behalf of our client Banco Safra, a Brazilian financial institution. The federal…

April 2016 – Chaffetz Lindsey has launched the first edition of its New York Commercial Litigation Report. The report contains recent case summaries to keep you informed on new developments, and reminded of old ones. The cases in this issue include:…

January 2016 – A Chaffetz Lindsey team consisting of partner Andy Frischknecht and associates Tania Cohen and Jungmin Cho has obtained the dismissal of all claims asserted against a former director of entities controlling key non-Russian assets of the former…

June 2015 – Chaffetz Lindsey’s International Arbitration and Insurance practices have been recognized again by Legal 500 in their 2015 USA rankings. David Lindsey is once again a Leading Lawyer in International Arbitration, as is Peter Chaffetz for Insurance: Advice…

May 2015 – A Chaffetz Lindsey team led by partner Andy Frischknecht and including partner James Hosking and senior associate Andrew Poplinger have won an affirmance in the Second Circuit of a June 2014 decision in the Southern District of…

April 2015 -Partner Andreas (Andy) Frischknecht recently participated in a panel on Ethical Aspects of Multi-Jurisdictional Litigation at the IBA Annual Litigation Forum in Paris. The panel included in-house counsel from France and the UK as well as outside counsel…

October 2014 – Partner Andy Frischknecht was part of a panel organized by the Knowledge Group that explored the application of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which establishes limitations on suits in U.S. federal or state courts against foreign sovereign…

July 2014 – Partner Andy Frischknecht was quoted in the New York Law Journal, concerning a recent decision in the Southern District of New York dismissing all claims against the Free State of Bavaria in a dispute over ownership of…

March 2014 – Chaffetz Lindsey’s latest European Lawyers Forum took the recent crisis in Ukraine and Crimea as a starting point for a discussion about disputes involving the impact of economic sanctions on the enforceability of private commercial contracts. A…

January 2014 – We have been closely following yesterday’s decision by the United States Supreme Court in Daimler AG v. Bauman, which sharply limits the extent to which U.S. courts may exercise personal jurisdiction over foreign corporations in disputes arising…